Mr Wafula Murefu went to Webuye police station on January 5 to inquire about the mission and intention of a group of policemen who had gone to his home allegedly looking for suspected gangsters.
Unknowingly Mr Murefu who happened
to be in the good books of the police, was told by the officer -in-
charge that they were not aware if he is among those on the wanted list.
But due to the tension following the cruelity of the gansters for
raping women and seriously injuring an assistant chief the police
politely requested Mr Murefu to wait while they consult others involved
in the investigations.
Later it emerged that the Administration Police attached to the
Webuye district officer had gone to Mr Murefus home after getting hint
that one of the suspects in the terror attack was his friend and could
be found at his home. He was put in police custody to assist the police with investigations and have the criminals arrested.
Mr Murefu spent 16 days at the police station before appearing in court charged with robbery with violence and he has never been but to defence.
He appears in court at intervals to be reminded of his offence but is not sure when he will defend himself.
The Western Kenya Human Rights Watch now says police in the region are abusing the rights of the suspects by detaining them unlawfully and trump up fake charges.
Mr Job Bwonya the executive director of the lobby group says that in the study carried out from December to March has found that over 380 cases are of arbitrary arrests and victims are detained illegally.
The Director claims police were taking advantage of the current crime wave to abitrarily arrest anybody and fake unbailable charges against the person to extort bribes or torture the suspects to extract confesions.
The lobby group says police stations at Kakamega, Bungoma, Kitale, Busia Webuye, Mumias, Kimilili, Kapsokwony and Malakisi have in their custody suspects who were rounded up after violent raids and robberies but there is no incriminating evidence to take them to court.
The police is accused of being responsible of congestion in the local prisons and increasing arbitrary arrests in the region to coerce affected persons to give out bribes to buy freedom.
The law enforcencement agents are accused of not keeping records of those in the cells when they hold them for up to 20 days without going to court.
Mr Bwonya said that arbitrary arrests and long detentions in police cells are ways used to extract bribes from the suspects and those who fail to raise the demands are charged with trumped up charges which are unbailable but no evidence.
He said the police to rely on confidential informants to trace criminals and thier accomplices are not fool proof and are being abused to purnish the poor by the rich in society.
The police are under presure to proof that they are working hard to contain the spade of robberies as justification of arresting any body they suspect and also hold them in cells without appearing in court on time.
At the sametime members of the public also want to show that they are corporating by giving out names of suspects who could be thier rivals to punish them.
The official maintained that the informants may be themselves criminals or associates of the criminals or at times have personal differences against neighbours and have got a chance to settle the scores.
He claimed well -conected individuals are coloborating with the police to frame thier enemies with criminal acitivities and have them arrested but have no recourse for justice.
He alsoexpressed fear that informants may trade the information for money and they are likely to exploit the situation to commit crimes themselves.
The police are flouting the Universal Declaration of HumanRights article 11, paragraph 1 which reads," Everyone charged with a penal offence has the right to be presumed innocent unti proved guilty according to the law in a public trial at which he has had all the guarantees for his defence".
With the crime wave on the increase and the police being constantly put on the spotlight by the public who accuse them of colluding with the thugs in the robberies, the police are not taking chances when following up tips leading to the arrest of suspects.
One of the informants at Webuye who declined to be named , accused the police and senior provincial administrators for colluding with gangsters and use intellengence reports to assist them to avoid arrest.
The informant who had prepared 65 names of suspected criminals in Webuye and the profile of their activities claimed that those who were released on bond after appearing in court have connections with people in charge of security.
He claimed further that one suspect who was arrested after public outcry and is out on bond is a business associate with an adminstrator in Bungoma district were they supply waste paper from Uganda to panpaper mills.
After the arrest of the suspect family members are not immediately told of the where abouts of their relative nor the reasons for the arrest.
A suspect who spent 2 weeks at the Webuye police station before appearing in court, had his family confused and left in desperation when there was no correct informantion on his arrest.
Finally when he appeared in court charged with being linked to robbers with 2 others the court gave him the option of shs.100,000 bond each or be remanded.
The family urge that because they are poor, he was remanded while his co-accused were released after raising the money for the bond but are convinced there is no evidence to confict him of the offence.
The court ask for the land title deed or motor vehicle log book as guarantee for the bond and those able to get them are freed and if they happen to be hardcore criminals then insecurity is not on the decrease when they are out.
According to the HumanRights group the police are failing to inform the suspects of their crimes when being arrested and the charges which are to be preffered upon them.
Mr Bwonya said that the law enforcement agents while exercising their powers to arrest should inform promptly and in detail of the charge against the accused.
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,.article 9, paragraph 2 states" Anyone who is arrested shall be informed, at the time of arrest, of the reasons for his arrest and shall be informed promptly of any charges against him".
The police were accused of failing to carry out exhaustive investigations in the fight against violent robberies by depending on volunteered information by members of the public which may be maliciuos and at times incorrect.
The purpose of investigation of a crime is to gather evidence, to identify the presumed author of the crime and to present evidence before the a court so that guilt or innocence may be decided.
The fundamental principals derived from international humanrights standdards are for presumption of innocence, entitlement to a fair trail and respect for the dignity, honour and privancy of all persons.
The Bungoma police boss Mr Chris Kago while addresing residents of Ngwelo market on January 14 after they were terrorised by armed gangsters said that they should be frank to expose those behind the crime so that they are taken to court.
Mr Kago was emphantic that no suspect criminals who were in police cells then will go to court unless there was overwhelming and incriminating evidence to confict them is produced by the public.
The OCPD said the police was solely going to depend on information given by the public to fight insecurity and it was upon the residents to participate in colluding with police to give tips on hideouts of the criminals.
The deputy police boss Mr Nelson Okioga dismissed the allegations by the humanrights lobby group on arbitrary arrests as baseless and likely to cause confusion in their fight to curb rising insecurity within the area.
"Police do not hold suspects for more than necessary, if we keep him or her for more than 14 days then there has to be a reason", he said.
Mr Okioga accused the Bungoma based human rights groups for being arrogant and behaving like investigators and in the process interfere with police work.
He complained that the rights activists want to control the police on how investigations should be done when they are not trained in that field.
On releasing suspects on bond, he said that it was the dicreation of the court to give out bonds to the accused and police have no say on the issue.
He said police should not be blamed for issuance of bonds because their duty is to take the suspects to court when there is enough evidence according to the charges.
Trade & Industry minister Dr Mukhisa Kituyi and his local government counter part Mr Musikari Kombo have supported the crackdown on criminal activities in the area saying the government has the capacity to curb rising crime wave .
The ministers have told the police not to release on bond any of the suspects arrested in connection with the raids which have claimed several lives in the district.
Speaking at Naitiri, two weeks ago Dr Kituyi said "the government has the capacity programme & intention to deal sufficiently with the spade of voilence particularly in rural areas".
He said all those rounded up for being key suspects should remain in custody to curb any criminal activities.
While Mr Kombo addressing the public at Muliro gardens in Webuye town appealed for area residents to volunteer information on gangsters saying they are brothers and husbands of those complaining about insecurity .
He said those involved in crime are relatives and friends of the victims as they spy on them during the day and turn against them at night.
"We have to be bold enough to expose the criminals in our midst because they are our children and friends to fight insecurity,".Kombo remarked.
There is concern that those arrested for being suspects with thuggery are not going to get fair trail.
The police are being seen as flouting the ethical rules governing investigations into crimes commited by persons.
Human rights protection demands
that for a person to recieve a fair hearing of any charges against him
or her, the entire investigation into the crime leading to the charges
must be conducted in an ethical manner and in accordance with the legal
rules governing investigations.
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